Dancing manias. Between culture and medicine

Dancing mania is a clinical and cultural phenomenon which occurred in Western Europe between 13th and 18th centuries. The term dancing mania is derived from the Greek words choros, a dance, and mania, a madness. An Italian variant was known as tarantism as victims were believed to have been bitten by tarantula spider. Although symptoms of dancing manias were well documented in contemporary writings the exact aetiology of dancing plaques is still unclear. Several causes for dancing mania have been postulated: demonic possession, the bite of tarantula, ergot poisoning, epilepsy, mass hysterias, exotics religious cults. The article contains a review of hypothesis of epidemic dances included both medical and psychological factors.

Submit your paper

For Authors

Archive

Indexes

eISSN:	2391-5854
ISSN:	0033-2674

The journal is supported by the State Treasury as part of the Development of Scientific Journals (RCN) program
Project no. RCN/SN/0610/2021/1 implemented from 2022 to 2024
Total value of the project: PLN 490 000
Amount funded by the MEiN: PLN 100 000
Aims of the project: Publication in Open Access mode on the Internet of English and Polish language versions of 12 consecutive issues of the journal Psychiatria Polska (years 2022-2024). Modernization and redesign of the journal’s website. Financing of the Editorial System. Copy editing and proofreading of journal issues. Counteracting scientific misinformation. Submission of electronic versions of the journal to the National Digital Library Polona and the Digital Library of Scientific Publications Academica.